Meat + Poultry - September 2008 - 114

The Formax® Maxum700® Rises to the
Challenge at Fair Oaks Farms.
With annual sales increasing each
year and multiple processing facilities,
Fair Oaks Farms is known for quality,
cost-efﬁciency and the application
of forward-looking technologies.
So no one was surprised when
management turned to Formax® and
the Maxum700®.
"Our forming lines handle a mix of
further processed meat products,
including pork, beef and poultry
items," starts Elizabeth Molton,
General Manager of Fair Oaks Farms,
Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. "For this
new line, we knew we wanted a servo
powered system that could handle
the large amount of product we
planned to put through it."

that they experienced on Monday
morning.
"It was the best install in my 21-year
career, and it had to be because we
were behind," continued Molton. "The
service we received from Formax®
was truly world-class, I can't tell you
enough about it. I really have to take
my hat off to the team at Formax®."
Formax® was contacted on a
Thursday afternoon. They made a
ﬁrm commitment for a Sunday install.
The startup on Monday was a total
success. But even so, Fair Oaks Farms
took a cautionary approach. They
wanted to run production for the full
week because many different products
were scheduled for the new line. Yes,

are good with poultry, and others
are good with beef and pork. We
needed a former that was good
with all three, and we found it
with the Maxum700®.
"The team Formax® sent for
technical training was so helpful.
They took the time to go through
everything, even though the
operators picked it up well.
Formax® not only made certain
our startup was successful;
they also looked at our other
machines checking for issues.
They don't just come in and
pigeon hole one area, they look
at everything. That's world-class
service in my view."

"It was the best install in my 21-year career, and it had
to be because we were behind," continued Molton. "The
service we received from Formax® was truly world-class, I
can't tell you enough about it. I really have to take my hat
off to the team at Formax®."
- Elizabeth Molton, General Manager
Fair Oaks Farms, Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin
"We were under the gun. We
needed a system that would operate
to our speciﬁcations and standards.
And we needed it now. The new
former had to deliver higher capacity
levels and handle all our different
species."
A Clean Start
Formax® made a ﬁrm commitment
for a Sunday installation and that
made possible the seamless startup

the Maxum700® had proved itself with
the breakfast sausage patties, but
Molton wasn't ready to sign off. She
wanted to make certain the forming
system was ﬂexible enough to run all
the different products.
Technology and Teamwork Meet
the Goals
"Our customers don't just buy pork
items, we sell beef and poultry as
well," said Molton. "Some formers

At the end of the week, the
Maxum700® met every goal with
respect to production rates,
product quality and weight control
on every species. The sanitation
features impressed Molton as
well, because the former is easily
disassembled to provide clear
access to the feed screws and
the plungers. "Formax® has been
so progressive in the sanitary
design on this machine with
Meat + Poultry - September 2008

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